Milestones: May 3, 1982

ENGAGED. Mary Cunningham, 30, vice president for strategic planning at Joseph E. Seagram & Sons; and William Agee, 44, chairman of the Bendix Corp., and her boss until 1980, when she resigned after talk that he had promoted her because of their friendship.

DIED. John M. Ashbrook, 53, a conservative Republican Congressman from Ohio for 22 years; apparently of a heart attack; in Newark, Ohio. A former chairman of the American Conservative Union, he sometimes let his fierce rhetoric overshadow his personal charm. In 1972 he challenged President Nixon in four Republican primaries but never got more than 10% of the vote. After a string of victories in his district, Ashbrook was seeking his party's nomination for the Senate seat held by Democrat Howard Metzenbaum.

DIED. John Patrick Cardinal Cody, 74, Archbishop of Chicago; apparently of a heart attack; in Chicago. The son of an immigrant St. Louis fireman, Cody spent eleven years in Rome, where he earned three doctorates. He returned to serve the church in St. Louis and Kansas City. As Archbishop of New Orleans he led black children into Catholic schools as pickets protested integration. In his 17 years in Chicago, he ruled rigidly and created controversy. A federal grand jury was investigating charges that he had diverted $1 million in church funds to enrich a longtime friend, Helen Dolan Wilson. Said he: "Any accusations against the shepherd are also against the church."

DIED. Gaylord Harnwell, 78, scientific administrator and former president of the University of Pennsylvania; of a stroke; in Haverford, Pa. During World War II, Harnwell, a Princeton-trained physicist, coordinated research on sonar, for which he was honored by the Navy. As Penn's president from 1953 to 1970, he revived the university by upgrading the liberal arts college, improving research and faculty, and increasing the endowment.

DIED. Melville Bell Grosvenor, 80, patriarchal head of the National Geographic Society; in Miami. Grosvenor's great-grandfather founded the society in 1888; his grandfather Inventor Alexander Graham Bell was its second president; his father edited the society's magazine, the National Geographic, for 55 years. "M.B.G.," as he was known, was president and editor from 1957 to 1967. A world traveler and master seaman, he increased funds for research, exploration, TV and films.